How to improve the use of food standards in Cambodia? A Public Private Dialogue among actors of the fruit and vegetable supply chain

Group Dialogue (Retailers & Lucky Super Market)

05 September 2017

Despite a growing demand for certified foods among Cambodian and international consumers, only a small amount of food grown in Cambodia is currently certified. One of the reasons that hinder the certification is the lack of exchange among actors in the supply chain.

Although a roadmap for the implementation of GAP and organic food has already been developed by the General Directorate of Agriculture (GDA) with the support of the ASEAN-German Cooperation Project “Standards in the Southeast Asian Food Trade” (SAFT)“, what was still missing was a commitment of the whole supply chain – farmers, retailers and consumers – to use these standards actively. The more supermarkets request GAP or Organic products, the more farmers see a value in complying with these standards due to attaining exclusive access and a higher price for their products. For the consumers, certified food gives them the opportunity to buy safe and sustainably produced food.

The GDA in cooperation with SAFT thus organized a Public Private Dialogue on August 31, 2017 in order to create a platform for key stakeholder to actively exchange and agree on steps to improve the use of GAP and organic standards. In addition to the dialogue, participants were invited on the next day, September 1, 2017, to visit an organic farm to see how organic production of foods looks like. This trip was co-organized with the Khmer Organic Cooperative., Ltd (KOC).

Group Dialogue (Consumers)

There were 108 participants, including representatives from the General Directorate of Agriculture (GDA) of the Ministry of Agriculture Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF), the Ministry of Commerce, AEON mall Cambodia, DFI lucky super market, retailers, producers, NGOs, private sectors, IFC and GIZ (ILF-Improved Livelihood and Food Security (ILF), GIZ ASEAN Sustainable Agrifood Systems (ASEAN-SAS), Multisectoral Food and Nutrition Security (MUSEFO) and SAFT). The results of the event were agreed steps among actors along the fruit and vegetable supply chain on measures to improve the use of GAP and organic foods. This means that in the near future, it can be expected that there will be more certified fruits and vegetables in the supermarket shelves available in Cambodia.